Month: June 2017

Laquon Treadwell was a major disappointment, to the Minnesota Vikings, and to me, in 2016. The reason I included myself, in the lofty position, equal to the Vikings, is because I had followed Treadwell since his high school days in Chicago, and felt he was the best college receiver I had ever seen.

A little history on Treadwell:

Played Quarterback as a freshman in high school, before switching to receiver.

Played defense all through high school, as well.

Named Illinois offensive Player of Year as a senior.

Named High School All American by Under Armour, USA Today, and Maxipreps.

Ranked the No.1 receiver in the country by Rivals, and 247Sports.

Committed to the University of Mississippi in November of 2012.

Named SEC freshman of the year, with 72 catches for 608 yards.

Having had a spectacular sophomore year through November, whileplaying against Auburn, he suffered a season ending broken leg, while catching a pass on the 1 yard line, that would have given them the victory, but he fumbled.

He came back for Junior year; had 82 catches for 1,153 yards.

After junior year, he opted for the NFL draft.

He was selected # 23 by the Minnesota Vikings, and not heard from again.

As you can see, he has the pedigree, and I am confident & hopeful that he will have a breakout season in 2017. I truly believe he just needs a little confidence. His work with Bradford will also payoff, as they have bonded more, coming into this season. They will also have a running game, to open up the passing game.

When I first heard about the Minnesota Timberwolves trading for Jimmy Butler, it put me in a cationic state. The reason I was in shock, was because in 25 years the Timberwolves have never made a trade where they benefitted. That was a real what the fxxk moment for me. They may have actually helped the team.

Even the national press and ESPN were calling it the blockbuster trade of the year. They all felt Minnesota got the diamond in this trade. Many also said they felt this made Minnesota a playoff contender. What great reviews, certainly different from previous trades, where Minnesota got fleeced.

Looking back at a couple of earlier trades:

1995 – Minnesota traded All-Star Christian Laettner to Atlanta for Andrew Lang and Spud Webb. Atlanta was the winner in that deal.

2003 – gave up 4 players for Latrell Sprewell. Again Minnesota stumbled because Sprewell wouldn’t sign a new contract $ 17 Million, saying it wasn’t enough to feed his family. Sprewell never returned to the NBA. Minnesota came out of that deal with nothing.

2007 – Traded Kevin Garnett to Boston for Al Jefferson and 2 1st round pics, which the Timberwolves owed for previous trades. Again Al Jefferson was no Kevin Garnett. Garnett also put a lot of fans in the stands.

2014 – Aquired Andrew Wiggins for Kevin Love. At this point, it seems like each team, got what they wanted.

Jimmy Butler is a super star. He is generally regarded as one of the top 15 players in the NBA. He is also considered one of the most focused, and hardest working players in the NBA. He will lead the Timberwolves with his actions, and mentor team members in the art of winning. He is the part, that has been missing, to get the Wolves to the playoffs. They realistically now have their own Big Three.

Just some quick stats on Jimmy Butler:

6ft 7 in; 230 lbs.; 27 years old.

Played college ball at Marquette.

Played 6 seasons for the Chicago Bulls; improving his stats every year.

The Minnesota Vikings announced on June 15th that they were inducting Randy Moss into the Vikings “Ring of Honor”. As I thought about it, I decided it would be a good “what the heck” article for me. From the NFL’s baddest boy, to being on the Vikings “Ring of Honor”As I researched historical data on Moss, I was blown away, about some of his positive accomplishments, and reminded of some of his, not so good moments. It would make a great movie: The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly, Part II.

The Good

1995 West Virginia High School Football Player of the Year.

Parade High School All-American.

In 2009, Parade named him to their 50 Best High School player of all-time.

West Virginia basketball player of the year for 2 years.

Won the 100 meter & 200 meter in the West Virginia state meet.

Attended Marshall because off the field incidents negated big time offers.

At Marshall for 2 years, he had 174 receptions, 3,500 yards and 54 touchdowns.

Won best college receiver of the year award, finished 4th in the Heisman voting.

Vikings, rookie season, he set NFL rookie records, and lead team to 15-1.

He was a 6 X Pro Bowler; 4 X 1st team All-Pro, led league in touchdowns 5 X .

Holds many NFL records, most important, is 9 seasons with at least 10 TD’s.

For his career, he had 982 receptions, 15,292 yds, and 156 TD’s

The Bad

A high school fight, cost him a scholarship at Notre Dame, and 30 days in jail.

As a freshman, at FSU, marijuana charge, kicked off team, served 4 months in jail.

A no show, at the NFL Combine. Rumored it was because, he would fail, drug test.

Many questioned his character, so he dropped from projected top 5 to No.21.

The Ugly

An incident where Moss spit in a referee’s face, as he was running by. Disgusting!!!

He pushed a traffic cop with his car for a block. 3 traffic citations.

Went into a rage, on the team bus, against corporate sponsors. Embarrassing!!.

Made a statement that followed him forever, “I only play when I want to play”.
It was great seeing Moss show some emotion, when he heard the news, of being inducted into the “Ring of Honor”. He actually appeared to be humbled by the announcement.

The NBA draft is today, June22nd, 2017. I’ve been following all the basketball guru’s, including my favorite Jay Bilas. In commenting on several players in the draft, he didn’t think one of them would get drafted, and discussed his options if he didn’t, which started me thinking about those, who didn’t get drafted.

First off, a new rule for this year, was adopted, that said a college player, could announce for the NBA, by April 23rd, and have until May 24th, to rescind that decision, and stay in school. However, if he hires an agent, he isn’t allowed to change his mind, and his college career is over.

The draft and the players s really a numbers game. 190 college players opted to enter the NBA draft. 60 players will be drafted. That leaves 130 not drafted, of which about 30 will sign free agent contacts, to sit on the bench, or play in the D-League. 30-50 will end up playing overseas, meaning 50-70 have no basketball options, and they can’t return to college, as the have used up their eligibility, and are not on on a scholarship any longer.

It is really tragic!!! The unwanted player, has been so wrapped up in his ego and do, he forgot to use his brain. He has always been just a piece of meat, that was improperly marinated. His agent told him, he was going to sign for millions. His posse or entourage, kept telling how great he was, because they would benefit, if he signed a big contract. His momma kept telling him how great he was, and she wanted junior to buy momma a new house.

Now that he won’t be a cash cow, for all the above, he is basically persona non grata. His former agent won’t accept his phone calls, his friends and hangers on, have abandoned him, and all his momma does, is holler at him, to get off the couch, and get a job. Remember when he claimed , he would be the best point guard in the NBA.

I honestly wasn’t sure John was still alive. Last I heard he was being held for spousal abuse. That coupled with the fact, he was fighting ongoing alcohol demons, and hasn’t been heard from in along time, led me to believe he might be in the 19th hole, in the sky.

So……..when I heard John Daly had won the Inspirit Invitational, on the Champions Tour, I said to myself that that was a true WTF moment, for golf. I love it. He hadn’t won since 2004.

Since 2004, he has gone through various challenges, including drinking problems, eating disorder, 4 wives, and losing his tour card twice.. he also had fallen so far, that he was driving to tournaments, and setting up a table to sell John Daly hats, t-shirts, and coffee mugs.

But even in those down times, he still had a huge fan base, so he was given several sponsor exemptions. his galleries many times outnumbered the major stars. A golf writer did piece on Daly, where he addressed his popularity. The result of his mini-poll, was that they were first attracted to Daly when exploded on the scene, with mammoth drives. Then they realized he was one of us. He drank, He smoked. He loved food. He was a blue collar redneck, who happened to golf, not a hybrid from the country club life.

I watched game # 5 of the NBA playoffs, between Houston and Ok City Thunder. This was a game that the Thunder should have won. They had a 6 point lead at the end of the third quarter, but tanked in the 4th quarter. They outrebounded Houston, especially on the offensive boards, 18-10. Oladipo was dreadful, hitting just 4 of 17.

Superstar Russell Westbrook was 1 for 10 in the 4th, but ended up with 47, for the game.

Houston didn’t play well for the game, but did out score the Thunder 33-22 in the 4th quarter. Harden shot barely over 30%, they were outrebounded, and were only 6 for 37 from 3 point range. Based on this, they should have lost to any team. Team being the key word. The Thunder are not a team, but a prolific shooter/scorer (you decide) accompanied by an assortment of journeymen lapdogs. Westbrook took the same number of shots, that the rest of the starting lineup took. They can’t win with that strategy.

Back in my day, I played for a coach, that practiced team basketball. He enforced a philosophy, of all players touching the ball, before a shot was taken. This got the players involved in the game. Good team basketball trumps a single star team every time. I’ve played in pickup games where a volume shooter is playing, and you lose interest in playing, and head to the lockers, earlier than planned.

In a post game interview Westbrook insisted that the Thunder were. playing good team basketball, and that he adhered to that concept. He apparently is lacking in cognitive skills.

While having breakfast with a few friends ( Monday Morning Quarterbacks ), we began to discuss the recent performances, of some of our Minnesota sports teams. Before discussing the individual teams, we discussed 2 key axioms that continue to be true:

#1 – If you want to know how a player will play, in the future, look at his past. Not always true, but likely.

# 2- Player has potential. Translation: he’s not good enough, to contribute right now.

Timberwolves – They finished the season on a 6 game losing streak, playing against teams not really playing to win, either out of playoffs, or resting for the playoffs. Their record was 31-51. All the talk says they should be better, but there not.

The Wild– Their best season ever. Fans at a fever pitch. No. 2 seed. They just can’t win in the playoffs. I hear all this bs, that they are playing well, the puck just can’t find the net. We are still using the antiquated method, of determining winners by the score, this is not pee wee hockey, where everybody does everything right. The excuses are juvenile. It’s like saying they lost because the Zamboni needs a tuneup.

The Twins– We are optimistic every year, until around game 10, then its like the old show “To Tell The Truth” Will the real Twins please stand!! This year they started with a few nice wins, but I’m afraid the Twins of old will emerge. Do you realize how many players $ 25 million would bring. That’s Mauer’s salary, for hitting around .200. How long have we heard about the potential of Buxton, Sano, Keplar, and Vargas? Pitching won’t get better, with no major additions.

The Vikings– The draft at this point looks pretty good. Dalvin Cook should contribute immediately. Elwein should also, based on the OTA’s. It should be noted that last years failure, came as a result of forcing Turner out. He had very meticulously, put together an offense, that he held together with bailing wire and was told to open up the offense. He knew that would totally expose the flaws in their offense. He decided to leave instead, as he knew what was coming. How did that change to Schumer work out ??

Gopher Hockey– To summarize, we are the hockey state. We have more D-1 talent than any other state. We used to have a winning tradition. The Gophers have a difficult time in the postseason.

Gopher Basketball– While they had great season, they didn’t get one win in the NCAA tournament, and haven’t for several years.

It was determined that you can establish a losing tradition easier than a winning tradition. Take a look at Alabama, Ohio State, Clemson, Notre Dame, Michigan, LSU: all great winning traditions. Even in Minnesota we have Eden Prairie High School, Hopkins High School, De LaSalle High School. We went on to say that a total market, like Minnesota can have a losing tradition. Of the teams discussed, when was the last time one of those teams, took you to the promised land.